Following a dominant win at UFC 155, Yushin Okami will next fight at home in Japan when he faces former Bellator champion Hector Lombard at UFC on Fuel TV 8 on March 3.

UFC officials announced the new bout late Monday night.

At UFC 155 in December, Okami stifled and suffocated Alan Belcher for the second time en route to a unanimous decision win to close out 2012. It gave Okami his second win for the year, after he lost in shocking fashion to Tim Boetsch at UFC 144 in Japan earlier in the year.

Now Okami will look for a taste of redemption as he returns home in March and faces another top ten middleweight on the rise.

Former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard was one of the UFC’s biggest free agent signings in 2012, but his debut landed with a resounding thud when he barely showed up at UFC 149 before losing a decision to Tim Boetsch.

Following the fight it was revealed that Lombard fought with an injured foot, and he promised a better performance in his second trip to the Octagon. He certainly didn’t disappoint. Lombard crushed Brazilian submission ace Rousimar Palhares at UFC on FX 6 in Australia in December.

Now Lombard gets a stiff test and one of the toughest fighters at 185 pounds in the UFC when he faces Okami in Japan.

In addition to Lombard vs. Okami, a featherweight bout pitting Rani Yahya vs. Japanese fighter Mizuto Hirota has also been added to the upcoming UFC on Fuel TV 8 fight card as well.

I would have made Lombard vs Philippou but this is a good match up, 2 great Judo guys. Lombard by KO. Okami won’t be able to get him down and…BOOM goes the dynamite.

shakejunt

costa needs to be babystepped a little. boetsch was an impressive win for him (regardless of the eye poke, broken hand, and headbutt), but we can’t just throw him in there with someone like lombard. i think his own suggestion of stann/wandy is a good match or jacare if he wants another step up.

I think this is where Hector Lombard starts to get pushed to the back of the bus. Okami had a bad run for a short period (again, never count losses to Anderson), but he consistently grinds out top level fighters. I think he will break Lombard’s will and get a dominant decision.

Milos Rackovic

Really impressed with Okamis performance against belcher,Lombards only chance a knockout

http://www.CombatScienceMMA.com/ CombatScienceMMA

Great fight. I think a lot of people will count Lombard out just b/c he’s still new to the UFC. But don’t forget this guy is not just a veteran mma fighter but he is an olympic judoka. This will be a nice win for either guy. Hector does need to win this fight in fashion otherwise it’s a long way back to even be considered a top contender. I hope he wins and gets a fight with Bisping or Munoz.

jay

okami needs to jab jab jab his way to a boring “im 6’2, you’re 5’7″ victory otherwise he gets ko’d, if either man goes to the ground he is getting right back up

uncle

This should be a slam dunk for Okami if he use the wrestling uncle Chael taught him